DigiCult is delighted to announce its Scottish Digital Shorts 2010 Talent Pool – Scotland’s key development initiative for new and emerging screenwriters, directors and producers.

From over 150 applicants from across Scotland, DigiCult identified ten exciting voices to develop short live action and animation projects. The SDS 2010 Talent Pool has emerged from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines and includes two animators, an advertising director, a successful theatre and TV writer, as well as recent graduates from the National Film and Television School (NFTS) and Edinburgh Skillset Screen and Media Academy. DigiCult is also pleased to work with emerging filmmakers who have been recognised through a variety of new talent development schemes and take them forward to the next stage of their careers.

The Animators shortlisted in the scheme are Jessica Ashman and Mårten Jönmark

Scottish Digital Shorts 2010 is co-financed by the UK Film Council, Scottish Screen and BBC Scotland and is supported by RSAMD and South West Screen Commission.

Mary and the Miners, directed by Iain Gardner for Flycatcher Films, won Best Animation at the First Light Movie Awards 2010. The film was created by forty six pupils at Cantref Primary School, a group of whom received their award from Tamsin Greig during the star studded ceremony at Leicester Square Odeon on the 2nd of March.

Eleanor Newsam, one of the youngsters involved, said she was amazed by the film. “I had great fun making it, especially using the sand on glass which is the background to the film. I was really pleased with the sound effects and the music.”

Another pupil, Noah Stuckey added: “None of us had ever experienced anything like this before. It was interesting seeing how the film evolved from us making the clay characters and recording our voices.”

The animation is based on the real life testimonies of child miners in the 19th Century.

Also nominated was Binn Bunny Goes Green made by Burntisland Primary School in Fife.

The judging panel for the Award were producer/director Rob Minkoff Stuart Little, The Lion King, production designer Terry Ackland-Snow Batman, Superman and director John Landis The Blues Brothers.

John Landis said of the film ‘This is a truly lovely piece of work. It’s beautifully made and has a big emotional impact.’

You can judge for yourself here

The nominations for the BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards 2010 were announced on the 2 March 2010 at an event held at the Blythswood Square Hotel in Glasgow.

Nominated for Best Animation are

Battenberg
Written and Directed by Stewart Comrie Produced by Anna Odell
Digicult

Monster In The Toilet
Written and Directed by Ania Leszczynska
Edinburgh College of Art

Welcome to Twister
Written and Directed by Owen Rixon
Edinburgh College of Art

Jonquil-Lions, Directed and Produced by Steve Warne and Julain Krubasik is nominated in the Music Video category. Their mixture of live action and animation was screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival McLaren programme in 2009.

Continuing Scotland’s reputation for producing world class talent in the digital industries, two teams from the University of Abertay, Dundee, have been nominated in the category for best game, for Colour Coded and Shrunk.

The BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards is a competition designed for new creative screen industry talent, living and working in Scotland. The awards celebrate new talent in the Scottish industry, highlighting the future talent of Scottish Film, TV and digital.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Glasgow on Friday 19 March 2010.

For a full list of the nominees, please visit:
W: www.baftascotland.co.uk

The Society for Animation Studies and the Filmhouse, Edinburgh are kindly hosting a screening of Scottish Animation to be held at the Edinburgh Filmhouse on the opening evening of Animation Evolution, the 22nd Annual Society for Animation Studies Conference (9th to 11th July @ Edinburgh College of Art).

The screening will be 70 minutes and the programme aims to show the best of Scottish animation. There is no restriction on when the work was created; anything produced in Scotland is valid. We want to show off fantastic work which has been done here.

Entry requirements
• Film duration maximum 10 minutes
• The work must have been produced in Scotland
• Any animated content will be reviewed. (commercials, games intros, short films, tv series, etc)
• One entry per person / company
• Please do not send Work in Progress or unfinished films.
• Entry supplied on DVD but you will need to provide digi beta for screening if chosen.

All entries to be submitted by Friday 26th March 2010.

Please send entries to….

Sueann Smith
Red Kite Animations
89 Giles Street
Edinburgh
EH6 8NY

The University, in partnership with Skillset and Creative & Cultural Skills Scotland, is hosting a Creative Choices Festival on its Paisley Campus on Tuesday 9 March 2010 (see below). As part of the Festival, a full day of events for staff and students is planned.

You are welcome to book and attend any of the events but it would be great if you would be willing to participate in a Q & A session planned for 2.00-3.00 with our Computer Animation and Digital Art students. If you are interested, please e-mail for more information.

Creative Economy Scottish Policy Conference (9-4pm)
This conference, held in the UWS P Block Conference Centre will influence the shape of Higher and Further Education for the creative and cultural industries in Scotland. This unique conference is being hosted by UWS in partnership with, Creative & Cultural Skills and Skillset – the sector skills councils for the creative and cultural industries.

Creative & Cultural Industries Festival (10-6pm)
An interactive event for students, employers and practitioners. Events will take place in the Brough Hall / Brough Committee Room, the Students’ Union, the Employability Link, the Library Learning Space and the Witherspoon Lecture Theatre.
An opportunity to participate in workshops in small business start-up, freelancing, enterprise and entrepreneurship in the creative and cultural industries and get advice from industry experts. As part of the festival you can book on to a programme of sessions including music business, performance, illustrated talks, poetry, launch of Scottish Video Games Archive, speed pitching event, creative workshops and much more…

Creative Industries Inspiring People Event (6-7pm)
As part of the UWS Inspiring People Lecture Series, bestselling Scottish novelist Christopher Brookmyre, will be discussing the depiction of journalism and the media in his fiction.

Acoustic Session (7-9pm)
Acoustic music sessions from the cream of UWS Commercial Music Students.

Live Bands (9-11pm)
Live Bands playing in the UWS Students’ Union.

macrobert are delighted to be welcoming back Lemieux Pilon: 4D Art with Norman, a tribute to Stirling born Norman McLaren, Oscar-winning film maker and one of Stirling’s most famous sons (1914-1987)

Norman fuses together dance, cinema and theatre where the dancer will physically interact with Norman McLaren’s animation which come to life in 4D…..

3 – 5 March 8.00pm
Tickets £15/£12 Concession/ £9 under 18’s/ £2 mPOWER 12-17 yr olds.